Teams 2.0 Archives - The Flock - Blog | Remote Software Engineering Teams

The key is integration: Discover the roles that make up a technology development team

Posted on April 18, 2023 - 3:35 pm by Roberto Villagra Marketing Lead

A technology development team creates software and technological solutions to improve a company’s efficiency or meet customer needs. Being well-structured is essential to succeed in any project. To make it efficient and effective, there are a number of essential functionalities to consider.

Learn about the roles that make up a technology development team and what their functions are.

–Developers: The core of any development team are software developers. These individuals must have experience in programming languages, databases, and software development tools. They must be willing to learn new technologies and stay up-to-date on the latest trends.

–User Experience (UX) Designers: UX designers are responsible for creating the visual appearance and user experience of the software. They must have a solid understanding of usability, interaction design, and accessibility.

–Quality Engineers (QE): Quality engineers are responsible for ensuring that the software meets user requirements and works seamlessly. They must be experts in software testing, test automation tools, and agile methodologies.

–Team Leader: The team leader is responsible for directing and supervising the team’s work. They must have a solid understanding of technology and be an effective and motivating leader.

–Business Analysts: Business analysts understand user needs and translate them into technical requirements. They must have effective communication skills and be familiar with agile methodologies.

–Project Manager: The project manager is responsible for planning, organizing, and supervising the project as a whole. They must have a solid understanding of the software development process and project management skills.

–Solution Architect: The solution architect is responsible for designing the technical architecture of the solution. They must have a solid understanding of enterprise systems and industry standards.

–Database Administrator (DBA): The database administrator is responsible for managing and maintaining the software’s database. They must have a solid understanding of databases and the ability to manage and troubleshoot them.

-Infrastructure Specialist: The infrastructure specialist is responsible for maintaining the underlying technological infrastructure of the software. They must have a solid understanding of operating systems, virtualization, and networking.

-Security Specialist: The security specialist is responsible for ensuring that the software is secure and that user data is protected. They must have a solid understanding of security policies and best practices.

An effective technology development team must have a combination of technical and non-technical skills. Each function is important to the overall project’s success. It is important that everyone is well-structured so that each member can work effectively and collaboratively to achieve the set objectives.

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Differences between a freelance and a contractor, two ways of referring to the same thing?

Posted on March 9, 2023 - 12:02 pm by Nicolas Castro 1

Of course not, the freelance and contractor modalities are not the same, although both involve working on projects in a temporary and somewhat independent manner.

Although remote work and contractors share some similarities, such as the fact that both involve working outside of the traditional office, there are some key differences between these two concepts.

A freelancer:

An independent professional who offers services to different clients without having a fixed employment contract with any company. Freelancer can work from home or their office and is responsible for finding their own clients, negotiating their rates, and setting their own work schedules. Freelancers typically work on a project or hourly basis and have no guarantee of job continuity. In addition, freelance work is usually short-term.

A contractor:

An independent worker who is hired for a specific time, typically contracts of 1 to 2 years, depending on the project, within the company. Unlike freelancers, the contractor has an employment contract with the company that hires them. They receive a fixed salary and may have additional benefits such as health insurance and paid vacations.

The key lies in the type of work they perform. Although freelancers and contractors are independent workers, their work may differ in scope and duration. Freelancers can work on a variety of projects for different clients, while contractors are often hired by a single company to work on specific long-term projects.

Companies, such as startups, have specific and urgent roles to fill, so our platform is designed to solve this problem for them. We look for on-demand talent, make a match, and get to work.

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5 tips for creating successful Remote Teams

Posted on March 10, 2022 - 11:00 am by Ramiro Gonzalez Forcada 3

The post-pandemic world is adapting to new paradigms such as remote work and non-verticalized teams to achieve a successful work team.

As digitalization adopts processes and workers look for new courses, how companies look for successful Remote teams and incorporate digital talent in their projects changed radically.

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Even though it is not simple to recruit an ideal team, there are some trends that big companies are applying to achieve that. For example, according to Forbes, 30% of the companies that make up the Fortune 500 list include independent workers in their labor force. This can be applied to Google, whereby 2019, 54% of their collaborators were freelancers, according to Bloomberg.

Another trend that has spread worldwide in the last two years is flexible and remote work. Even though that had already been happening gradually, a study carried out by human resources consultancy Mercer guarantees that executives believed that only 45% of their workforce could adapt to a remote work modality before the pandemic. However, currently, more than 90% of employers say that productivity was kept intact and it even improved after the implementation of remote work. Most companies claim that they will continue using this model even when the pandemic comes to an end.

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That is why nowadays, the search for talent and productivity in teams and projects has no limit. These are some of the keys to take into account to create modern teams:

Remote work enables reaching untapped talent groups

It is essential to understand that the best talent is not always present in the same place as the organization. Looking for talent outside the company for critical projects related to digital innovation might be the key to growth. Onboarding talent outside and inside the company with the help of remote work and digital collaboration platforms is crucial to create efficient teams.

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Hybrid teams are superior

Innovation asks for a diverse group of talent. The most innovative teams combine internal employees that understand the industry with expert global talent that offers advanced technical skills, as opposed to the traditional system integration model that externalizes innovation. Hybrid teams can also help companies develop new internal skills while working hand in hand with independent expert talent.

Diversity is a superpower

In today’s world, there is no doubt that diversity enriches any team. When a team includes a variety of gender, ethnicity, background, and more, then novel ideas, potential solutions, and overcoming results will appear. One of the best benefits of being a company with remote teams is having access to a wider range of candidates to choose from. Hiring people from the freelance world implies a bigger chance of diversity, which allows them to reach further limits due to availability.

Elastic staffing tops permanent staff

Many companies follow a permanent staffing model that assigns a role to a full-time position during the length of a project. This minimizes mobility and the employee satisfaction. However, the elastic staffing model, which allocates resources depending on the workload of each step of the project, increases productivity, cuts down the time a project takes, and gives better results.

Employees want to be treated more as freelancers and vice versa

Employees want flexibility: having more liberties leads to more productivity. This does not mean making abrupt changes to the company but establishing working environments that balance personal and working lives while letting employees choose the areas and projects they want to be part of.

Sure enough, hired freelancers want stability and the benefits that companies offer without sacrificing their flexibility. Businesses that learn how to work effectively with freelancers will have the best global talent available. This includes mapping projects and leading them to success with hybrid teams, incorporating advanced technology, and providing predictability to help them plan effectively.

Innovation in digital spaces led to great advances in communication, finances, project management, and more. In the last two years and amid the pandemic, there were multiple success stories of companies that could adapt to remote work and create hybrid, diverse, and innovative teams that had a positive impact on the social, cultural, and economic results of the organizations.